


History and the future

by Kia619



Series: Angstgent 24 [3]
Category: Splatoon
Genre: Action & Romance, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Lesbian Cephalopods (Splatoon), Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-24
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:27:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21549091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kia619/pseuds/Kia619
Summary: Agent 3 and Agent 8 have been dating for some time now, how will they respond when the world starts throwing new challenges at them?
Relationships: Agent 3/Agent 8 (Splatoon)
Series: Angstgent 24 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1466896
Comments: 32
Kudos: 65





	1. The steps ahead

Agent 4 didn’t know much. But what she DID know, was that ranked matches could either be the most fun experiences you can have, or the worst. There is no middle ground. She had been playing ranked since the arena opened in the morning. Today’s mode was tower control. She’d done a handful of battles before this one so it was nearing 1pm. She’d been working hard and just managed to get her rank meter over the OK line. This match however, her teammates were letting her down.

“For fucks sake, we’re in S rank! Fucking try!” Four swore as she raised her NZAP to turf some ground to make it to the tower. Her team was not doing well, they only got the tower to 80 meanwhile the opposing team had pushed back to 20. Four kept making her way to the tower, watching for enemies that may try to sneak up on her. She remembers to be turfing the ground as she goes, which results in the most glorious sound, the familiar dinging of her special being charged. Four smirks as she clips her NZAP onto her belt and pulls out the Tenta-Missile launcher. Just as she had suspected, the entire enemy team camping the tower.

“Eat this.” She pulls the triggers and the missiles fly off. The enemy team leaps off the tower, stopping just before they could make any additional progress. Four uses this moment to corner the enemy. The missiles keeping them pushed back as she dispatches them with her NZAP and a couple of autobombs. 

Four smirks, a team wipe, exactly what she needs to turn this around. She quickly inks the side of the tower and swims up it, claiming it for her team as it begins making its way towards the enemy base. She sees her own team coming up to the tower quickly, figures they’d come running as soon as there was no danger left. Four looks over her teammates and quickly devises a plan.

“You, with the Kensa charger! Go up ahead, try and cut them off!” Four barked. Normally people would object to being given orders, especially when being referred to by their weapon choice, but given Four had just splatted the entire enemy team, they were willing to let it slide. 

“You with the Carbon Roller, swap spots with me, you’ll have an easier time dealing with tower climbers than I will.” The inkling with the roller nods and swims up the side of the tower as Four jumps off. The inkling on the tower disappears into the ink, shrouding them from view.

“And you, Kensa Splattershot, you’re with me, stay close to the tower to reclaim it should Roller get splatted, and try and keep the enemy away from it.” The Splattershot wielder nods as they all charge forwards, holding the line between them and the tower.   
  
The inkling with the roller proved to be more than capable of holding their own, any time someone even got close to the top of the tower, a quick swing would send them right back to spawn. Four and the inkling with the Kensa Splattershot were doing a good job keeping the enemy’s focus off the tower. Suction bombs and Auto bombs kept them from getting too close. The Charger had found a spot to camp that allowed an easy escape, as well as decent coverage of the tower.

The overtime horn blared, this was it. The score is now 20-37. Just a little further and Four’s team will have won. With the overtime Horn having been blown, Four turns to the Splattershot wielder.

“Okay, we NEED to hold the tower, I’m heading up there to support the roller, join me if you wish, but you’d be just as useful down here.”   
  


Splattershot nods, Four swims off to the tower and climbs the side, landing on top with Roller.

“Hey, just a little further.” Four offers a smile before returning to guarding the tower. 

Four chances a glance at the score board

20-25

It’s going to be close.

Four spots someone swimming towards the tower and raises her NZAP to aim at them. They leap out of the ink and fling a splat bomb at the tower. Four quickly kicks it off the tower before it can explode, but the thrower used the opportunity to leap on to the tower, and had a brush pointed right at Four. Before they could even get one swipe out though, a roller came crashing down onto them, sending them back to spawn.

“Nice job there, keep their attention off me and I can take care of ‘em even easier.” Roller smirks, proud of themselves for their accomplishment.   
  
“Don’t celebrate just yet.” Four replies as she hears more enemies swimming towards them. They leap out of the ink all at once, Dualie Squelchers, NZAP 85, and an Octo Brush. Four fires at the Dualies first, knocking them back to their spawn expertly. She narrowly dodges a few shots from the enemy NZAP before returning fire with her own NZAP 89. Four doesn’t dodge every shot but she manages to connect just enough to splat her opponent, and just as Four had expected, the Octo Brush got slammed by the Roller and sent back to spawn.

20-23

20-22

20-21

20-20

20-19 GAME!

“YES!” Four cheered. “We did it!”

The roller breathes a heavy sigh of relief. Four turns to them and offers a high five. They graciously accept and smack their palm against Four’s. Their entire team cheered and pats Four on the back for a job well done.

Four decides that after that mess, that it’s time for a break. It was also lunch time anyways, so she heads out of the Turf Lobby and returns to Inkopolis Square. She glances over to Crusty Sean’s food truck, she could really go for a schwaffle. She starts walking towards it and notices that only a handful of people getting food, nice.

She reaches into her pocket and pulls out her stash of tickets and sees if she has the one for the meal she wants. She scrolls through a handful of drink tickets before finally coming to the one she wants, she smiles and puts the rest of her tickets back in her bag as she finishes making her way over to the food truck. After waiting in line behind the few people ahead of her, finally it’s her turn to order. She hands the ticket to Sean and smiles.   
  
“One Double-Fried Super Shwaffle please!” Four smiles excitedly, she’s put off eating too long and she’s going to ENJOY this schwaffle.

“Coming right up! It’ll be ready in a moment.” Crusty Sean smiles in response as he turns to cook her desired meal.   
  
Four walks to the side and waits for her order. She pulls out her phone and idly scrolls through the news, not a lot has happened recently that’s noteworthy so it’s a short scroll. She sighs and turns to scrolling through SplatNet to see if there’s any cool gear for sale. Before she can look for too long however, she hears a ding and turns to see her Double-Fried Super Shwaffle waiting for her.    
  
“Here ya go kid, enjoy!” Sean smiles and waves to her as he turns back to the till to manage the other customers he’s going to have since the lunch rush from the battles are coming.

Four smiles and snags her food before trying to find a place to sit. Lets see, there’s a Jelly asleep on that table, so that’s out of the question. Sat at another table is an Octoling just staring at her phone, typical. Oh there’s a free table! The one next to it seems to be shared by an Inkling and an Octoling who seem far too interested in eacho- wait.

Four walks over to the pair, squinting as she looks at the Inkling. She’s got an incredibly toned body, scars all over the place, but the thing she was looking for she spots when the Octoling says something causing her to laugh. Her head lifts up slightly and Four is able to spot the familiar mark on the underside of her chin. A mark that, in the right light, looks like an inkling in squid form.

Four walks over and taps the Inkling on the shoulder. The Inkling in question turns quickly, murder in her eyes and her fist raised ready to make someone who’s awake be not awake, until she sees just who it is that took her attention.

“Alex?” Four asks, hope shining in her eyes.

“Jay?!” Her fist drops and she smiles widely.

The two stare at each other with stunned silence between them, before the girl now named “Alex” leaps out of her chair and tackles Four, or, ‘Jay’ to the ground with a hug.   
  
“Oh my gods! I haven’t seen you since before… well it’s been a while!” Alex chuckles, the Octoling she was with partially puzzled but also partially amused at the scene.

“ALEX! MY PELVIS!” Jay cries, Alex was always strong but a tackle hug was not something she was prepared for.

“Oh fuck sorry!” She climbs off and gets back to her feet, Jay does the same, both blushing awkwardly.

“I didn’t know you were back in Inkopolis, last I heard you went off on some soul searching adventure or something to the mountains.” Jay tries to get herself under control, still just ecstatic to see Alex again.   
  
“Hah, classic Jay. Right to the point.” Alex smirks and lightly jabs Jay in the shoulder.

“Har har, but seriously, why didn’t you tell me you were back in town? I missed you!” Jay says, a little grumpy with Alex still. “Granted I hadn’t moved here until after you left on that adventure, but still!”   
  
Alex blushes and rubs the back of her neck. 

“I uh, well my head’s been a little all over the place lately.” she pauses. “But hey, I’m back!”   
  
“I otta splat you for not telling me! I am the best cousin you could ever have how could you just leave me in the dark!” Jay poses dramatically, her hand over her chest and her nose to the sky. Alex just rolls her eyes. 

“Oh woe is you, I’ve only been back for like, a couple months. I’m still getting settled.” Alex retorts, taking her seat again across from her date.   
  
The Octoling at the table speaks up, having previously just been watching the events unfold.   
  
“Wait, you have a cousin?” She looks to Alex quizzically.

Alex sighs.    
  
“Yes Eight, I have a cousin, and no, her and I are NOT going to challenge the Squid Sisters for ‘pop icon cousins’ my ink curdles at the very thought.” Alex smirks, earning a chuckle from her Octoling girlfriend.   
  
“Oh my GODS Alex, you are impossible.” Jay chuckles, causing Alex to again roll her eyes.

“So what if I am?” Alex squints at Jay, but then looks to the ground. “You uh, might wanna pick up that Shwaffle before a Jelly eats it.”   
  
Jay looks at the Shwaffle she was going to eat, then back to Alex, then back to the Shwaffle. Sighing, defeated, she snags some napkins off the table.

“You owe me a Shwaffle.” Jay picks up the mess on the ground and tosses it in the can. “You made me waste an entire ticket.”

“It’s your fault for not setting it down before talking to me.” Alex shrugs as she sits back down. “Last time you tapped me on the shoulder like that you got knocked across the house.”   
  
Jay glares at Alex. Then her gaze shifts to the Octoling sitting with her.

“Oh my gods, where are my goddamn manners. I’m Jay, it’s nice to meet you. How do you know my cousin here?” Jay extends her arm and outstretches her hand towards the Octoling sitting with Alex.

Eight glances to the Inkling she’s with, who gives her a nod, and she reaches out and shakes Jay’s hand.   
  
“I’m Eight! Well, that’s what I go by. My memory’s a bit flakey and my real name was one of the flakes.” She shrugs. “And as to how I know your cousin? Well, she kinda saved my life. She also tried to kill me, but I was brainwashed at the time so I think it’s only fair. Well and she tried to kill me a second time but SHE was brainwashed that time.”   
  
Alex chuckles. Eight was always so brutally honest it was adorable.

“Wait wait, what?” Jay was clearly confused, not being able to piece together the story, which to be fair, was a very complicated story in and of itself.

Alex just sighed, and chuckled to herself. 

As if being cued, Eight, Alex, and Jay’s phones all go off at once, prompting all of them to glance awkwardly at the others before pulling out their phones and seeing what the mess is about.

\--

Marie: Yo finally, this group chat setting is way more difficult than it needs to be.

Callie: Oh chill Marie, you just missed a button, nothing to get worked up over :D

Agent 3: Oh my GODS Eight and I are on a date, and y’all just drop this on me? Also my cousin is now standing next to me.

TheGr8Agent8: 3 almost drop kicked her, I could see the look in her eyes.

Agent 3: And I would’ve looked beautiful doing it

TheGr8Agent8: You always look beautiful ;)

Marie: COULD YOU TWO STOP FLIRTING FOR FIVE SECONDS!

Agent 3: No

TheGr8Agent8: No

4gent A: Wait hold on a second, ALEX? 

Agent 3: No fucking way, JAY?

Marie: What? Do you know each other already?

Agent 3: Oh my fucking gods I can’t believe this. AGENT 4 IS MY GODDAMN COUSIN.

\--

“Wait, you’re an Agent too?!” Jay says, looking Alex dead in the eyes.

“Uh yeah? I could ask YOU the same thing!” Alext retorts, pointing her phone at her.

Jay grabbed a chair and placed it next to the table Alex and Eight were at, and sat down.   
  
“I need information.” She looks Alex dead in the eyes, her face showing no signs of wavering. “Spill it. What happened. You fucking dissappeared! For like four years!”

Alex sighs heavily.

“Sorry about this Eight, I hoped today would be normal but I guess you get my whole backstory now.” She turns to face Jay. “You wanna know what happened? Here it is”   
  
Three then goes on to explain how she met the old Cap’n, how she found herself in the middle of an uprising Octarian army, and how while she had some help, it was largely just HER against the great OctoWeapons, the Octarians, and the large number of Octolings in their rising army. 

“After that things died down a bit, a stray Zapfish would go missing every now and again, but those were always fairly easy to reclaim. A year after that was when Callie and Marie had their big split, I didn’t talk to either of them much after that, but I kept in contact with Cap’n Cuttlefish.” Alex explains, putting emphasis on the fact that she kept in contact with their grandfather.

“It was a result of staying in contact with him that I found out about an organization called Kamabo. He and I went in to investigate, however before we crossed the threshold between Octarian and Kamabo territory, Eight here ambushed us. She was still under Octavio’s control so I don’t hold it against her.” Alex gives Eight a playful nudge and Eight just blushes.

“Alright that sort of makes sense so far, but there’s still two whole years unaccounted for in your story” Jay presses, wanting more.

“The next two years were… Hell. I was separated from the Cap’n, though apparently he’d been with Eight. I was on my own. Kamabo is the worst hellscape imaginable, and I didn’t even see the worst of it. Octarians and Octolings were put through some kind of chamber and when they came out the other side, they had no more life signs… but they were still standing.” Alex shudders, Eight puts her hand on her shoulder to emotionally support her.

“The octarians generally just had some kind of distraught look on their face, like they didn’t like where they were but they also didn’t care either way. I suppose that’s just what the lower level Octarians are like. But the Octolings? Man their scared expressions and desperate attempts to get free before being… sanitized… still haunt my dreams.” 

Eight leans in closer and rests her head on Alex’s shoulder, hugging her arm tightly. Alex immediately feels her hearts relax and slow, she realizes she’d riled herself up and gives herself a moment to relax. Finally after a few moments, she’s breathing normally again.

“Thanks Eight.” She smiles and glances down at her girlfriend. “I needed that.”   
  
“I know.” Eight kisses her on the cheek. “I needed it too.”

Alex takes in a deep breath, holds it for a second, then lets it out.

“Okay, to cap of Kamabo from my perspective. They have a very large army of basically undead. They patrol their own grounds constantly. I got so little sleep that days merged more than I thought. Honestly I thought it had maybe been a few months, not two whole years.”

“That’s why you reacted so bad when you found out!” Eight chimes in.

“Yeah I felt all that guilt from losing the Cap’n all over again, it’s like my emotions decided since I only thought it was a few months that I needed to make up for the time I DIDN’T feel guilty or some shit like that. That’s what my therapist said anyways.”

“Wait, you see a therapist?” Jay inquires “you seemed so… against that when we were young.”

“Yeah well, when we were young I hadn’t prevented a war, and then had my mind taken over by a psychotic telephone.”

“You what now?”   
  
“Oh right, we didn’t get to that part. Yeah so I eventually found the Cap’n and Eight, inside a huge ass blender of all things. It was going to melt their essence into the ‘ink’ that Kamabo uses. I crashed through the ceiling just in time to prevent it, but in doing so I got some of that Kamabo shit on my face and it took over my mind. Eight could tell you this part better since I was effectively unconsious for it, but to make a long story short, she saved the world while I was incapacitated.”

“Well, I helped. Pearl did the finishing move that actually saved the world.” Eight interjects.

“Don’t sell yourself short. You were equally important if not more important. Pearl may have toasted her vocal chords, but you’re the only reason her finishing move was even effective. Plus, you did all that in HEELS!”

“Alright alright, I guess I can take SOME of the credit.” Eight laughed awkwardly. 

“Good” Three smiled. 

Jay nods from across the table. 

“Mhmm good yes. So how did you two start dating? Since I’m just getting y’all’s life story now.”

“Y’all’s?” Eight bleps her tongue a few times, like the word doesn’t taste good in her mouth.

“It’s slang from back home, I’ve almost stopped using it but apparently she hasn’t” Alex laughs pointing at Jay.

Jay sticks out her tongue and rolls her eyes. 

“You’ve had three whole years to adjust, I’ve been here what, five months?”

“Wait a second, JAY YOU’RE 18 NOW!” Alex cheers. “I can’t believe I missed it!”

Jay just laughs and waves her hand to dismiss the thought.   
  
“It’s okay Alex, really. I mean given where you were during the time I turned 18 I don’t exactly blame you for not being there.” Jay chuckles. “I’m just so happy to see you again!”

“It’s been too long Jay, far too long.” Alex smiles warmly. “And Eight, this is the cousin I mentioned a while back. Jay and I were super close, people thought we were siblings all the time.”   
  
Eight looks between the two inklings next to her, she can certainly see the familial resemblance, though Three certainly did look a number of years older. Jay seemed to be on the shorter side of the two, though it wasn’t by much, maybe a couple inches at most. Three, er, Alex, also seemed to be very… protective of Jay. Not that one could pick up on it through her words, but her body language and actions certainly showed this.

“But… I am currently on a date with Eight, so we can catch up later alright?” Alex says trying to get back to the date she was graciously enjoying with Eight before her cousin whom she hadn’t seen in years and missed very dearly came up and got tackled by her. 

“It’s for the best, I think I have to take my E soon anyways.” Jay’s phone beeps shortly after she finishes her thought, confirming her suspicions. “Yep just like I thought. Catch ya later Alex! You too Eight!”   
  
With a wave Jay leaves, Three would have to make a mental note to replace the schwaffle she debacled. She was happy she got to see her cousin again. But right now she has more pressing matters, like how adorable Eight is.

“So yeah that was my cousin, she’s great even if we don’t see eye to eye all the time.” Three says, chuckling to herself at the memory of a few of their disagreements in the past.

“She seems nice.” Eight smiles, but then quickly turns the attention of the conversation to something that’s been bugging her. “Also… Alex?”   
  
Three sighs, she knew this was coming and so it might as well be over with now.   
  
“Alex is my real name yes… but since I moved to Inkopolis and became an agent, I’ve just gone by Three. I told Cap’n my name, same with Callie and Marie, but since it’s usually all business when I’m with them they insisted on using agent numbers… and since that’s the only social interaction I really had since moving here, I just kinda got used to being called ‘Three’ - It wasn’t until Jay showed up that I had even considered that I  _ hadn’t _ told you my name yet.” Three laughs awkwardly while rubbing the back of her head.

“Does it bother you?” Eight asks, looking her in the eyes with a worried expression.   
  
“What?” Three looks back, unsure why Eight seems so worried all of a sudden.   
  
“Not being called by your name, does it bother you?” Eight takes hold of Three’s hand, squeezing it lightly, hoping she’s not treading on uncomfortable territory.

  
“Uh, I guess I never really thought about it. I mean if I’m being honest I think I kinda prefer Three now, I’ve been going by it for so long.” Three blushes and rubs her neck awkwardly.

“Alright, if you’re sure.” Eight smiles, squeezing her hand again.

“Positive” Three smiles back and leans in, pressing her lips against Eight’s.

Three and Eight spent the rest of their date talking about Three’s past, Eight was curious and Three felt it was only fair. Three revealed how growing up that her and Jay were incredibly close, they were cousins but due to circumstances they were raised in the same house. Three was very proud of Jay for making it to Inkopolis, just like Jay was excited for Three when she left. Three hated saying goodbye to Jay all those years ago, but she had no choice, she had to leave to get on with her life. 

Three also recounted the events that lead to her and Jay living under the same household. Jay’s mother was less than enthusiastic about the fact that she was a girl, and kept being remarkably disrespectful. Without going into detail, one day things got out of hand and Jay was taken from her as a result. Jay found it refreshing how accepting Three and her family were of her, and anyone who dared to be mean to Jay got a face full of Three’s fists. Three spent a lot of time in detention protecting her cousin. Three didn’t care, she’d rather get in trouble than let her cousin get hurt.

Three was very proud of her for becoming an agent as well, she heard about what “Agent 4” had been able to accomplish and knew it was no small feat. Three would have to congratulate her for a job well done later on, and also just to catch up with her properly rather than awkwardly after spilling her schwaffle. 

But alas, all things must end and Three and Eight’s time together comes to a close. The sun is starting to set and Inkopolis square is shutting down for the night. Three and Eight sigh as they realize that they’re going to have to go home soon. 

“Well, aside from that whole fiasco with Jay I’d say today went pretty well!” Three smiles at Eight, who blushes and smiles back to her.   
  
“I agree, I always love spending time with you, Three.” Eight leans in and pecks Three on the lips, causing both of them to blush profusely.

“Hey, I’ll see you tomorrow right? We’ve been put on guard duty together so Cap’n can get some rest.” Three asks, gathering her things together so she can head home.   
  
“Yeah, I’m just afraid of what Octavio might say… he gave me the stink eye when I first arrived in Octo Canyon but with Callie and Marie there he kept his mouth shut.” Eight comments as she, too, gathers her things into her bag.

“Alright well… I’ll see you tomorrow then!” Three smiles, excited to have another chance to be with Eight. “Oh by the way, did Callie ever end up designing you your own Hero outfit? I’d hate if they were going to make you wear the same outfit you had in the metro. Not that it doesn’t look good on you though.” 

  
Three blushes thinking about how Eight’s outfit in the metro seemed to compliment her figure. Eight just rolls her eyes and gives Three another peck on the lips.   
  
“She did, you’ll see it tomorrow. I was able to give her some input on it so I hope you like it.” Eight smiles and blushes. “Anyways, I should get going. I can hear Marina’s lecture from here if I take too much longer to get home.”   
  
Three chuckles and nods, saying her goodbyes to Eight. Three hikes her bag up onto her back and begins the trek home. Things are starting to look up finally, she can’t wait to see where things go from here.


	2. Guard Duty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for Three and Eight to do some agent work for the Splatoon, what kind of shenanigans will they get up to this time?

Three had finally purchased a new alarm clock, it was a durable model that was designed for people like her who would slam their fists down onto it mercilessly. It was advertised as being able to withstand a hydraulic press designed for lifting cars. Three apparently has far more strength than a hydraulic press because now there’s a hole in her nightstand along with the shattered remains of the alarm clock that was sitting there the night before.

“Heavy duty my ass.” Three says, sitting up and stretching her arms to get herself prepped for the day. She slides the ice pack off her eye and sets it on the nightstand, making a mental note to put it back in the freezer later. She was eternally grateful to Marie for finding out how much Kamabo Sludge hates the cold. She’d finally able to exist without the pain that had previously been caused by her scar. 

Three tosses her covers aside and makes her way into the bathroom. Normally she wouldn’t shower in the morning but today was different, she was going on guard duty with Eight and she wasn’t about to show up smelling like body odor and indifference. Her shower is quick and uneventful, she simply washes herself and when she’s done she turns the shower off. Three stops by the bathroom mirror to look at her affected eye. The iris was still teal, but the area around it had lost most of its unnatural colour. Now it looked a lot more like most of her other scars. Though if you looked closely, there was still a little bit of discolouration. Three shrugged, it had been the same for a while now so this was likely as healed as it was going to become. So as long as she doesn’t get infected with any more sanitization sludge, she should be fine. Maybe she could even stop using the ice pack.

Three shrugs off her thought process, she was going to end up being late if she just dwelled on her thoughts without care. She heads out of the bathroom and starts the process of getting dressed. Sheldon had graciously repaired her Hero headset, though he did keep insisting on her just switching to the new one. Three said she liked the look of the old one and would prefer to keep using it. She slips into her usual hero uniform, zipping the jacket up and sliding the safety vest over top. Once she’s got them on she buttons her cape around her neck. If Jay saw Three in her cape she’d say Three was being dramatic. Which she was, but that’s beside the point. Three takes a moment to look herself over in the mirror, her hero shoes are by the door so she’d but them on when she got there, but she had on her usual shorts and hero jacket combo, complete with its cape. Her hero headset was in her hands at the moment, she’d put them on once she got out the door.

Satisfied with how everything sits, Three walks out of her bedroom and switches off the light. Three has a quick bowl of cereal for breakfast. Nothing fancy but it gets the job done. She scrolls idly through her feed on her phone as she eats, the stages for the day are pretty cool, Splat Zones is the ranked mode and it’s on Wahoo World and Starfish Main Stage. The regular turf wars rotation is Inkblot and Humpback Pumptrack. Jay had always been enthusiastic about wanting to play turf wars and the various ranked modes, Three was sure that she’d be busy with those today. 

Three finishes up her cereal, pockets her phone and puts her bowl and spoon into the dishwasher before slipping on her hero shoes and heading out the door. Once the door is locked behind her she slips her headset on and heads to the roof to the jump pad. Shortly after, she lands in Inkopolis square. Three takes a moment to examine her surroundings. It’s early so there’s not a lot of life in the square yet, mostly just jellies wandering around. Though there are a handful of Inklings and Octolings wandering the square as well. The Octolings seemed wary of her, and she understood why. Eight didn’t even have most of her memories and she was initially wary of Three, so she understood why her being in full agent gear might make them nervous. 

Three just smiles and gives a wave to anyone who looks her way, the Octolings generally look confused at this gesture but wave back and then return to their activities. Finally Three is confident there’s no wandering eyes on her, and she makes her way over to the entrance to Octo Canyon and jumps in.

Three emerges on the other side, her Hero Shot clipped to her belt, and makes her way over to where Cap’n and Octavio are sitting.

“Hey Cap’n, good to see you again!” Three smiles and pulls him into a quick hug. “Things have been so busy that I haven’t had time to stop by. How are you?”   
  
The old Cap’n just chuckles, Three’s enthusiasm has more than returned and he’s grateful. He knows that part of it is because Marie found a way to make Three’s physical pain stop, another part is because she’s been going to therapy to help her deal with her traumatic memories, but a large part is Eight, who came to the surface in the most difficult way possible, and started spending time with Three. Three had needed more friends and the Cap’n knew this, but he hadn’t expected Three and Eight to become quite as close as they did. But he wasn’t complaining.

“I’m good, I’m good. How are you? That eye giving you any trouble?” Cap’n asks, pointing his bamboozler he uses as a cane at her afflicted eye.

“Other than a little bit of fuzziness in vision clarity, nothing. The pain stopped thanks to Marie’s discoveries.” Three smiles, but then her brow furrows and she looks around the landing of the Canyon. “Where’s Eight? I totally thought she’d be here before I was.”

“I’m sure she’ll be along shortly, but sadly I must be going. Those granddaughters of mine are insisting I go with them to Arowana Mall for some big sale.” The Cap’n chuckles before making his way over to the way back to Inkopolis. “Stay safe Agent Three, if you need anything you know how to contact us.”   
  
Three waves and the Cap’n disappears into the grate, returning him to Inkopolis. Three decides she may as well head over to where Octavio is, make sure he’s not plotting anything sinister. Though from what she’s heard Octavio has come to terms with where he is. Three walks over and sits down in the chair which Cap’n occupied before Three arrived to relieve him of guard duty.

“So, DJ Octavio… ‘sup?” Three asks, looking Octavio in his eyes. Octavio is visibly surprised by this… conversational attempt by Agent 3.

“I’m trapped in a snowglobe, what could possibly be “up” other than that?” Octavio snarls, his eyebrows pointing down between his eyes.

“Relax edgelord, I’m just here to make sure you don’t break out and steal the great zapfish again.” Three rolls her eyes, she’s not too thrilled about having to entertain this criminal mastermind by herself but hopefully Eight will be there soon.

Octavio sighs, his demeanor changes drastically and his body seems to relax. He looks away from the agent in front of him and into the distance, seemingly letting his thoughts drift elsewhere. Anywhere but the moment.

“I’m sorry. I know I can never truly atone for my actions, but I am sorry.” Octavio says, still looking into the distance. “I thought I was helping my people, we were going to take the surface back. But now I find those who have been freed by the inkantation have not only made it to the surface, but have been welcomed into society as though there was nothing wrong with them, like there never was a war between our species… It’s caused me to do some thinking.”   
  
Octavio turns and looks at Three, she’s staring right at him with an interested expression on her face. She’s fascinated by what he has to say. Weather she believes his words is a different story altogether but he’s just happy to have someone listen to him. Craig never entertained him for very long when he started getting speachy so he was going to take this opportunity and run with it.

“I realized that I was going about it all wrong. We don’t need to reclaim the surface at all. The inklings in Inkopolis would just welcome us as though we were one and the same.” Octavio lets out a heavy sigh, it hurts his hearts to admit how wrong he was, but he needs to say his peace. “I should’ve realized this sooner but I was blinded by my own desire for revenge and now I am paying the price for it.”   
  
Three just rolls her eyes. Marie had told her what Octavio said shortly after she discovered the weakness in Kamabo Sludge, so Three to a degree knew this song and dance already. What she wasn’t prepared for was how sincere his words would seem. She did think that a lot of Octarian technology was far above what inkling society had been able to come up with, so maybe if he had changed his tune they could work out a deal of some kind. But for now there was no way for him to be trusted.

“Well that’s all well and good, but what you did with Callie is still completely inexcusable. She kept wanting to put those damn shades back on, Flo eventually got tired of seeing how distraught Callie was and made her a knockoff pair. They look the same but they don’t take over her mind.” Three says, no real seriousness in her voice, just spouting off facts about what happened as a result of Octavio’s actions.

“I know, I accept that.” Octavio sighs and looks to the ground. “Wait, the real ones  _ were _ destroyed right? You do not want her mixing them up.”

“Relax, they’ve been reduced to dust according to Marie.” Three rolls her eyes. Octavio had a lot more to say than Three had initially expected.   
  
Finally, Eight jumps through the grate, and Three realizes why she had wanted to keep her hero outfit a surprise. Her shoes are reminiscent of the armoured shoes Three would get on her missions, Eight also had on the same bike shorts that Three did, and then Three notices her jacket. Her jacket is almost identical to Three’s, it’s a dark grey coat with a safety vest over top, though Eight didn’t have a cape on. Finally, her hero headset was somewhat similar to Three’s, with similar bands wrapping around the back of her head, but they were more rounded to accommodate the different shape of her ears.

Three can’t help but blush as she realizes that Eight definitely wanted her hero uniform to match Three’s own. She stands up from her chair and makes her way over to her.   
  
“Eight! There you are!” Three smiles, pulling Eight into a hug, which Eight graciously returns. “I was beginning to worry you weren’t gonna show!”

“Sorry, sorry, Pearl kept insisting on making sure everything sat right on me, she kept hemming my jacket to no end. I kept telling her it was fine but she kept insisting.” Eight rolls her eyes and smiles, she is grateful to Pearl for everything but sometimes she can be overly parent-y. 

“Hey, at least you’re here now and I don’t have to watch this old grump by myself!” Three smiles and takes hold of Eight’s hand as they make their way over to the cabin, sitting on the bench outside of it, still able to see Octavio from where they are. 

The rest of the day goes by uneventfully, Three and Eight talk more about Three’s past, and how Three is finally warming up to Clam Blitz. Eventually though, they both realize that they are getting hungry. It’s been a long day and they skipped lunch, partially because of guard duty, and partially because they were so enthralled with each other. They’d only been dating for a couple weeks at this point so everything the other had to say was still fascinating to them.

“Hey it looks like the sun’s starting to go down, I have some spare tickets so I could run grab us some food from Crusty Sean if you wouldn’t mind watching Octo dumbass for a bit by yourself. I promise I won’t take long.” Three smiles, silently hoping Eight says yes because she’s been dying for a Seanwich for two hours.

“Yeah sure! I mean, I defeated an evil AI and saved Inkopolis, how difficult could it be to watch a single trapped octopus?” Eight giggles, earning a giggle in response from Three.

“Alright well, be careful, he’s broken out once before.” Three says as she stands to leave. “Any requests? I’ve got a ticket for just about anything off the menu.”   
  
“Uhhh, whatever the medium sized Schwaffle is called, I had it last time I got something from him and it was really good.” Eight replies, smiling at Three and the thought of getting some food in her system.

“Alright I’ll be back soon!” Three waves to Eight and jumps through the grate.

Eight now was alone with Octavio for the first time. She didn’t think it would bother her until she noticed him staring at her, she couldn’t shake the feeling that he knew her somehow. Something she very much didn’t like. She decides it would be best to just get the inevitable conversation over with, at least this way maybe he’ll stop looking at her like that. She stands from the bench and makes her way over to his snowglobe, taking a seat on the chair Three was occupying when she arrived.

“What?” Eight asks sharply, causing Octavio to recoil slightly, as he wasn’t expecting such a cold response.

“What do you mean, “What?”?” Octavio retorts.

“You keep staring at me, I wanna know why.” Eight says, staring directly into Octavio’s eyes.

Octavio sighs and rubs the bridge between his eyes with one of his tentacles.   
  
“You really do have almost no memory don’t you?” Octavio asks disappointed, crossing his tentacles in front of him.   
  
“No, I really don’t.” Eight scoffs, glaring right into his eyes. “But I remember enough to know I don’t like you.”

Octavio shrinks, he wondered how much she actually knew. Did she remember everything about what lead her to being in Kamabo, or did she only remember bits and pieces; or did she possibly not remember anything from that time period.

“Look. I don’t know what you remember, but just… please know I’m sorry for what I did.” Octavio looks to the ground through the snowglobe, defeated.

“And what, may I ask,  _ did _ you do?” Eight sneers, trying to keep a strong facade so Octavio doesn’t attempt to take advantage of her.

Octavio doesn’t speak, he continues looking to the ground in shame. Eight’s gaze burning a hole through his soul as every passing second makes him wish more and more that he hadn’t ever broken out in the first place. He wished he could take every mistake back, every tiny little misstep, every single miscalculated action. Finally he brings up the courage to speak, though it’s through a more hushed voice than before.

“I sent you on a suicide mission, I knew you weren’t good enough to defeat Three on your own. You’d give her a good fight and maybe even injure her, but you were never going to win that fight. I sent you to die.” Octavio closes his eyes in shame, he’s come face to face with his own mistakes and it’s eating away at his being.

“Why?” Was the only response Eight gave. She didn’t sound mad, she didn’t sound like she was ready to rip his throat out from his neck, instead she just sounded… confused. “Why send me on the mission. There has to be a reason you wanted me gone.”

Octavio looks up at her, expecting to see fire and rage in her eyes but instead sees only questioning. She’s looking for the pieces of her past that her mind can’t fill in, and Octavio knows that once she starts remembering, she’s going to hate him more than anyone else in the Splatoon.

“I don’t want to say too much.” Octavio says, trying to keep his cool. “But, you were the leader of an Octoling uprising. I sent you to your death to cripple their efforts. As you are both still alive and I am presently imprisoned, I think it’s safe to say I failed miserably. Again.”

  
Eight doesn’t flinch, but her eyes close and her brow furrows as she seems to be trying to recall a memory, she struggles for a moment before opening her eyes again and looking at Octavio.   
  
“I’ve got all the time in the world. You are going to tell me exactly how I went from being in your army, to being sent on a suicide mission.”


	3. The scars of the past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eight begins to remember, and the memories are less than pleasant.

The battlefield was gruesome. Splatters of magenta and teal ink covered vast stretches of land. Rebel Octolings could be seen fleeing the scene as magenta ink rained down from the other side. Octo commanders lined the border between rebellion territory and Octavio’s domain, and with Octavio back in command, his forces were making a push. Octolings from behind the Octo Commanders and Octo Snipers peered through their Hypnoshades and made their way onto the battlefield. The rebellion knew they were not going to win this fight and so they were fleeing to regroup and fight another day. As Octavio’s armies made their way closer to the Rebel base, the octolings inside were frantically trying to gather their intel and get out before they were met with an untimely end.

“Takeshi! What’s your status?” A female Octoling called into her communicator as she ran through the compound, her Octo Shot clipped at her belt and flopped against her leg as she ran, ready to be equipped at a moments notice. “We need to get out of here NOW!”

Her communicator lit up and Takeshi’s voice rang through the speaker, relieving her slightly that he can still hear and answer her call. She doesn’t stop her sprint however, if he calls for backup she needs to be ready to support. She furrows her brow and listens to the voice calling out from her communicator as the wind rushes past her, making her small tentacles beside her face flap slightly.

“We’re almost done! We just need to finish loading the map data so we have it with us when we make a new base!” His voice sounds frantic, no doubt he’s seen battle recently and is guarding the communications room. “I handled a few Octotroopers but I’m sure reinforcements are coming.”

“Hold on Tak, I’m gonna see if I can draw them away from you. I might be able to buy you a few more minutes!” She calls back into her communicator as she unclips her Octo Shot and readies it for battle, flipping the safety off with a quick twist of her thumb. She takes a moment to quickly check the straps of her ink tank, making sure it’s secured.

“Kiaria no! Regroup with the rest of the rebels at the fallback point! We need you  _ alive! _ ” Takeshi’s voice calls out in distress. Kiaria knew he meant well but she could handle herself. Besides, that intel would be far more useful than just her. She was a competent fighter, you don’t get to special ops just by having a pretty face, but she was just one soldier. If she died defending her friends, that means they have just that much greater chance of surviving to fight another day.   
  
“You don’t give the orders here soldier, now get that data and get out of here!” She calls into her communicator before clipping it back on her belt and making her way through the winding tunnels that lead to the coms room. She could hear methodic marching which meant there was hypnotized Octolings nearby. She ventured a guess that they were headed to Takeshi’s position as his hostility towards them would’ve raised an alert to the rest of the hypnotized forces.   
  
Just as she had expected, there were more Octolings outside the door than Takeshi would’ve been able to handle on his own. She screams in rage as she materializes a Splat Bomb and throws it into the middle of the pack causing them to split. The confusion created by this allows her to quickly drop to her knees, sliding on the ground as she passes by two dazed Octolings. She stops quickly and turns, her Octo Shot firing teal ink with force causing her victims to explode into ink. She quickly turns her head to see another Octoling, now recovering from their daze, readying their weapon to fire upon her. She quickly sweeps their legs out from under them with her own before making them too an ink stain on the floor. 

She bows her head in shame for a moment. She doesn’t like how many of her kind have to die because Octavio continues his iron grip on Octarian society, but she knows that their sacrifices won’t be in vain. The more he tightens his grip, the more Octolings slip right through his fingers. She wishes that this was the end of the fight, but she knows that more will be upon her shortly, she can already hear their footsteps.

“I’m sorry brothers and sisters, may the gods be merciful to your souls.” Kiaria says under her breath as she readies herself for the coming army. Her feet planted on the ground firmly, ready to kick off or dodge at a moments notice. She slows her breathing and closes her eyes, the world slowing down around her, every step of the enemy echoing in her ears. 

The platoon of Octoling soldiers round the corner, Kiraria’s eyes shoot open and she lets out an ink curdling scream as she charges right for them. They turn to face her and the Octoling in the front raises their weapon to fire, but Kiaria kicks it out of their hands before they can pull the trigger. The stunned Octoling is now acting as a temporary barrier between her and the rest of the platoon, so she uses this to her advantage. She reaches out, grabs them by the collar of their Neo Octoling armour, and quickly pulls them towards her and lifting them off the ground as she spins. Then, using the momentum from the centrifugal motion, she throws them into the rest of the platoon they arrived with. Shamefully Kiaria raises her weapon again, and the ink leaves the nozzle rapidly as the group of assailants becomes more ink stains on the walls and floor. 

Kiaria clips her weapon back on her belt and dusts herself off. She bows silently to her fallen combatants. It wasn’t their fault Octavio had them hypnotized, but there was no way to save them without the Inkantation, which unfortunately they weren’t able to record. She takes a moment to take inventory of the situation. She can’t hear any more soldiers marching towards her, so likely they’re regrouping. If they got caught in the wave of Octavio’s forces marching in they’d be toast, but with them gone for the moment they just might have a chance to escape. She unclips her communicator and flips it open, her hands still shaking and her breath still heavy from her encounters, but she pushes through to get a message to her comrades.

“Takeshi what’s your status? The coms room is clear of hostiles.” Kiaria says into her communicator, still standing between the hallway that leads to the entrance of their base facing Octarian territory.   
  
“We’ve got -rything we ne-, we’re ready to -egroup with the rest -f the rebels!” His voice calls from the fuzzing speaker of her communicator. She was losing connection which meant interference. The only time they ever had interference was when…  _ oh no. _

“Takeshi, get the FUCK out of here NOW! That is an order!” Kiaria yells into her communicator, unclipping her weapon from her belt and breaking out into a sprint towards the entrance of their base. “He’s here, get out and regroup with the rebels!”

Kiaria doesn’t wait for a response, she throws her communicator on the ground and stomps it under her boot. She wasn’t going to risk the safety of her comrades by letting Octavio hack directly into their coms. She continues her journey towards the entrance of their base, praying silently that everyone would have the time to escape with what little she could buy them. Kiaria kicks open the door with such force it flies off the hinges and lands a few feet away. She runs out, Octo Shot primed, and enters what she believes will be the last fight of her life. 

Octo commanders keep her pinned in the small area she has, with Octo Snipers keeping her on her toes. She dodges a shot from a sniper with a roll to the side as several Octolings march into the fray. They’re all pointing their Octo Shot’s at her and she knows she has no choice, but it still hurts her soul every time she has to end one of her own kind. She furrows her brow and pushes aside any thoughts she might have about friendships that could be made, and instead focuses on the task at hand, saving the friends she already has. The Octolings attempt to surround her but they fail to realize that Kiaria is primed for her special attack. She flips a token off her belt and slams it into her weapon, a triumphant ringing of a bell can be heard as Kiaria’s hair begins to glow and appear almost on fire. She dodges a shot then leaps into the air, activating her special. Her ink creates a protective layer around the outside of her body as she rises higher into the air than any normal jump, then quickly she comes flying back to the ground with her fist pointed right at it. In an explosion of teal ink, the enemy combatants are dispatched.

Kiaria raises her weapon again, ready to face another wave, only to be hit suddenly over the side of the head by a blunt object. Kiaria falls to the ground, her vision fuzzy and her head spinning. She’s not able to hear or see very much, but what she does see is a large figure standing over her, and only a couple words that passed their lips.

“...If she doesn’t talk, put the shades on her and send her after Three…”

\--

Kiaria awakens in a cold room, there’s not enough light for her eyes to make out any details but what she can tell is that her situation isn’t good. She can make out that she’s on some kind of table, it’s angled so that her feet are towards the floor but she’s still leaning backwards. She can also feel a mild burning on her wrists meaning she’s been restrained, no doubt those ink injectors will leave a mark. Regardless, she’s trapped, but she hopes she gave her comrades enough time to escape.

Then she realizes there’s an unfamiliar taste in her mouth, it was strangely metallic and almost made her mouth feel numb. She didn’t have to spend very long guessing what the taste was from as shortly thereafter she felt a drop of ink leak from her forehead and drip down over her lips. 

“Perfect, I’m leaking.” Kiaria groaned. Now aware of the break in her skin on her forehead, she begins to realize that almost her entire body was in seething agony. It felt like she’d been dragged by her ankle all the way from the old Rebel compound to… wherever she was now. Which most likely she was. Tiny spots of her body flared up in sharp, precise pain. It was like she had a million tiny cuts and scrapes, each individually complaining about existing at the same time.

Her evaluation of her body’s condition was interrupted by the sound of a door opening, followed by the sound of footsteps. The lights flick on and Kiaria winces as her eyes adjust to the brightness.

“MotherFUCKER!” She spits. “A little warning would’ve been nice, ass.”

The Octoling that entered the room doesn’t pay her any attention, they simply walk up next to the table she’s strapped to and wheel out a small cart. Kiaria can’t make out what’s on the cart and that fact scares her greatly.

“You are going to tell us exactly where your rebel friends are hiding.” The Octoling states, as if somehow that would make her just outright say where they are. She’d look them in the eyes but the Hypnoshades that sit over their eyes prevent this.

“I’ll die before I reveal their location, you can tell that bastard Octavio he’s wasting his time trying to get anything out of me.” Kiaria growls, she knows they’ll try other methods of extracting information from her, but she’s determined not to break. Or maybe they’ll just off her for not being cooperative. Octavio’s always been the impatient type.

“Very well then.” The Octoling grabs something off the table and brings it up for Kiraria to see, it’s a syringe with an unknown substance inside. The Octoling smirks and flicks the side of the syringe as they push lightly on the plunger to remove any air. Quickly the needle is jabbed into her thigh, she lets out a quiet wince of pain and the substance is injected into her body. She feels the world around her start spinning and her consciousness waning. The last thing she remembers seeing before she blacked out was a pair of shades being placed over her eyes, and flickering, dancing lights in front of her eyes.


	4. The pain of remembering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eight knows

“And that’s it… I sent you after Three thinking you’d be no match for her and your rebellion would die with you.” Octavio states as he stares firmly at the ground. That new weed growing out of that crack was  _ very _ interesting to him all of a sudden. “Obviously… I was wrong.”

Eight on the other hand, was unsure how to feel about everything. Octavio’s words rang in her skull and her memories had begun returning. She thought she wanted this, she thought she wanted to know who she was but… She’s not sure she wants to know anymore. She’d spent so long forging her identity as Eight that now having the identity of Kiaria clashing with it in her mind was making her head spin.

Eight looked down at her hands and her arms. Old scars she couldn’t explain suddenly had stories, every mark in her skin that wasn’t from Kamabo suddenly made sense. She vividly remembers when she’d broken free of her hypnotization, the look on Three’s face as she cuffed Octavio with the help of Callie and Marie. God she looked so much younger back then, and her face looked so beautiful without the scar. Was she infatuated with her even back then, or is it just her current love for the girl making her think that?

She remembers clearly every step she took as she ran from Octavio’s headquarters. She remembers how she met Takeshi and formed the rebellion with him. Everything flooding into her mind all at once, and it was making her head ache. But there was still a burning question in her mind, she had to know, and if she knew the rest of her history now she may as well ask. Her memories from when she was under his control were hazy at best, so any details about that time period would need clarification.

“Before I defected… what was my official rank in your military?” Eight says as she continues to stare at her arms and hands. “A-and… what was my last name?”

Octavio looks up from the ground, he expected her to be looking him in the eyes again but was surprised to see her scanning her own body as though it was a forign object to her. He supposed this should’ve been expected, he heard how much of her memories she’d lost and even with as much as she clearly can recall now, there’s a lot that she is no doubt still missing.

“You were Special Ops unit one, effectively the third in command. It’s how you got so many to defect with you.” Octavio pauses, once again very interested in the weeds growing from the cracks in the ground. “As for your… last name… I think it’s only fair I tell you your full name rather than just that piece, you should know who you are.” 

Eight stops her gazing at her arms and turns to look him in the eyes, she’s curious why he’s choosing this course of action, as with the memories she’s recovered she already knows her first name. Though she supposes if she had a middle name that she’d want to know what it was.

“Your full name… is Kiaria Yuri  _ Ida _ .” Octavio states plainly, making sure to place emphasis on the last name as he does. By this time Octavio more than knows about Marina’s defection, and how she’s part of a popular duo that took over the news job from the Squid Sisters. 

Eight’s eyes go wide as her own last name rings in her ears, she can’t believe it, though she supposes she should’ve. There was always a warm familiarity that she felt around Marina that she could never explain. She never understood why she was so quick to open up to her or turn to her for support, but now she does know, she…  _ she has a sister! _

“M-Marina is my… sister?” Eight looked up into Octavio’s eyes, memories from those days were fuzzy at best, the only thing she can firmly remember is a familiar presence that went away roughly the same time her hypnotization was broken. She thought it was just the hypnotization itself, but now she’s come to realize… it could be Marina. She doesn’t remember seeing Marina much after becoming free, but one memory is trailing its way back to her mind.

“Yes, Marina Ida is your sister. You and her were both top of your classes and excelled in your respective ranks. Your prowess with weapons made you an excellent field soldier, and her prowess with engineering and hacking made her an excellent spy and architect for my army.” Octavio says, keeping his attention on Eight as he does. She deserves to hear the truth. “Then, the Inkantation broke my hold on you, and you both went rouge. I don’t know what happened between you two but I know Marina went to the surface and you stayed underground to fight me.”   
  
Eight doesn’t say anything for a moment, she glances between Octavio, the grate which Three had gone into however long ago to get food, the ground beneath her shoes, and the birds flying in the sky. Her mind was racing, grabbing pieces and putting them together like a puzzle that’s stored on a spinning platter.

“She… wanted me to leave with her. She told me her and I could forge a new life on the surface. But I refused, I said I had to fight for what was right.” Eight states plainly, her words sounding like she’s reading from a book rather than recalling a memory. “She didn’t want to leave me behind but the thought of getting captured or killed terrified her. She was never a fighter so I didn’t blame her. I hoped she’d be safe on the surface and that her and I would one day see each other again… I… I guess in a way I got my wish.”

Octavio glances at the grate himself, Three’s been gone a while and will no doubt be back soon, he needs to finish this conversation quickly before he gets himself thrown off the edge with no respawn pad synced to him.

“Look, Kiaria, Eight, whatever you’d prefer me to refer to you as… I know I’m the last person you’d believe this from but, I am sorry for the pain I caused you… especially Kamabo. Kamabo has been stealing my designs and perverting my subjects for decades… I wouldn’t wish the fate you faced there on anyone, not now, not back then, not ever… and… I realize now your rebellion was right. I was gripping my people too hard in hopes of holding on, but I was wrong to think I could win that way. You were right.” Octavio bows his head, he hated everything about Kamabo, even when he was fighting to keep control of his subjects he’d never willingly send them to Kamabo. Hell, he wouldn’t have even sent Agent 3 there and that would’ve arguably solved a lot of his problems at the time.

Before either of them could say another word, a familiar squid pops out of the grate, holding a single Galactic Schwaffle in her hand, with two forks sticking into it, as she also holds a very large drink cup in her other hand, with two bendy straws sticking out the top of the lid.

“So there was a massive rush and he ran out of like everything small, so I figured I’d just get a big serving we could share.” Three says as she walks over to the bench she was sitting on with Eight before, only once she’s there does she realize that her girlfriend is currently not sitting there. She sets the food and drink down on the bench and looks around and then she spots her… far too close to Octavio.

Eight looks over to Three, her hearts flutter and she smiles as she sees the little blush on her face as she suggests the sharing of food. Three was adorable to Eight, and she’s glad having most of her memories back hasn’t changed that. However, when Three spots where Eight is standing, she sees something she didn’t expect, and yet it comes straight from her memories. The only piece of her memories from when she was hypnotized that is clear as day. She sees the soft, gentle expression on Three’s face quickly be replaced with what can only be described as determination and rage. That was the face Three always had when she was making her way through the domes, the face as she fended off the waves of Octolings and Octarians that Octavio sent after her. The face of a soldier ready for war.

“What did you say to her?” Three growls, now suddenly standing between Eight and Octavio with her Hero Shot equipped and a special canister in her free hand. Eight instincually backed away, she figured Three wouldn’t hurt her but if she went off on Octavio there was a chance for collateral damage.

“I said nothing but the truth to her, she wanted to know some of her history so I told her what I knew!” Octavio holds his tentacles up beside his head in surrender, this is exactly the kind of situation he had hoped to avoid.    
  
Three’s brow furrows and her thumb slips under the lever of the special canister, ready to break the seal as she growls. Three’s finger has moved from the side of the weapon to over the trigger, now ready to fire with an audible but quiet click of the safety being switched off. Eight realizes that Three will never believe him and that she’s going to have to tell her he’s not lying.

“Three, wait!” Eight calls, her voice causing Three to relax somewhat. Three turns to look at the Octoling, a confused expression on her face as she does. “He’s telling the truth, I swear!”

Three glances between her girlfriend and Octavio, she sees the worried expression on Eight’s face and the nervous one on Octavio’s. While she still doesn’t trust him in the slightest, she’d rather not cause Eight any undue stress. Hell that’s why she’d had this reaction in the first place. Reluctantly, Three stashes the special canister back on her belt and clips her Hero Shot to her belt as well, making sure to flip the safety back on first. She flashes Eight an apologetic smile before using her head to gesture to where they were sitting before, the place where their dinner was waiting for them. Eight simply nods and the pair walk over to the cabin and sit on the bench outside of it.

The pair sit in awkward silence for a moment, Three feeling a pang of shame for reacting so harshly. But she knew how much trouble Octavio could cause and she reacted in kind. Her biggest fear was him somehow getting those shades on Eight. Three knew that if Eight was taken that way, she’d be done. She could never bring herself to harm Eight, so if Octavio had control of Eight’s mind, Three wouldn’t be able to fight back. She supposes Marie might be able to knock the shades off of Eight with a well placed charger shot, which apparently she’d done to rescue Callie from Octavio, but Marie was busy and she doubts she’d be able to get here in time to do anything. Three shakes her head and clears her mind from these thoughts and instead attempts to break the deafening silence that has built between her and Eight.

“So… what did he have to say?” Three picks up the Schwaffle and grabs one of the forks, taking a quick bite as she does, her stomach is still rather empty as she hasn’t eaten since the morning.

“Mainly how I wound up fighting you that first time, and…” Eight pauses, the next words caught on her lips, she didn’t think it would be as big of a deal to her as it was, but then she hadn’t expected for it to somehow change everything. “My real name.”

Three pauses, plastic fork still sticking out of her mouth as she turns to look her in the eyes. She takes the fork out of her mouth and sticks it back into the Schwaffle, setting it aside so she can give Eight her full attention. She would be lying if she said she hadn’t wondered what the Octolings name had been before her memories stepped out to get cigarettes, but it had never been that big of a deal. But right now, it mattered to Eight, and that’s what mattered to Three.

“Oh? Uh, are you… comfortable sharing it?” Three asks, a small smile creeping across her face as she does. She had come to know everything there was to know about the Eight who went through Kamabo and came to the surface, but she was curious about the girl that became the girl she fell for.

“Well, my first name is Kiaria…” She pauses as the words escape her lips, like speaking a distant memory you didn’t know you had. But Eight notices how Three seems to blush harder upon hearing it spoken.

“K-Kiaria? Wow that’s uh… absolutely beautiful…” Three blurts out through her blush causing Eight to blush and giggle in return. Three smiles awkwardly and blushes harder. She needs to stop being gay for 0.2 seconds so her girlfriend can finish telling her  _ what her name is. _ “But uh… what about your last name?”   
  
“Oh, right.” Eight pauses, the blush fading from her face as her mind resets. “My last name… is  _ Ida _ .”

Three’s mouth hangs open for a moment in response to this information. Her brain had lapsed for a moment and she didn’t recognize the last name at first, and then it all clicked at once sending her eyes wide. 

“Wait… so you and Marina…” Three begins, but her befuddlement is too great for her to finish asking her question. Fortunately Eight knows what she’s going to ask and is able to answer the question anyways. “No way…”

“Yes. Marina and I are sisters.” Eight smiles, almost bouncing slightly as she speaks the words. “I-I’m so excited to tell her!”   
  
Three shakes off her confusion and returns to a state of congratulations, smiling widely.   
  
“That’s great! I’m so happy for you!” Three beams, excited that her girlfriend has found something to be excited about.

Eight nods, but before she can speak any other words, her stomach makes an audible growling noise and she realizes she’s spent so much time being excited about having a sister that she forgot about consuming food.

“Oops, I guess I got a little too excited.” Eight blushes and smiles, causing Three to giggle. “How about, now that my  _ tragic backstory _ has been revealed, we go back to that Schwaffle you were going to share with me.”

Three bites her lip and smirks, picking up the Schwaffle and snagging a portion of it onto a fork. She winks at Eight and then holds the fork up to Eight’s mouth causing the octoling to roll her eyes but smile and open her mouth as Three gently slides the fork past her lips before they close down and she consumed the morsel of food provided.   
  
“Mmm, tastes so much better when you feed it to me.” Eight smirks back and giggles causing Three to blush and giggle in return. Three insists on feeding Eight as many bites as she wants and Eight absolutely loves the attention and pampering. Before long the Schwaffle is consumed and the pair just sit on the bench holding hands as the sun begins to dip over the horizon.

“You know, all things considered, I’d say today went well.” Three states as she once again finds herself at sunset with a beautiful octoling holding her hand.

“I agree, today was good.” Eight nods as she squeezes Three’s hand, smiling as the world turns orange around them.

Eight shuffles closer and once again rests her head on Three’s shoulder. She knew she’d have to tell Marina the news, and that she’d be excited about it, but right now, in this moment, she was enjoying a tender evening with Three. She lets out a small happy sigh prompting Three to giggle and kiss her head. Cap’n would likely be back soon to relieve them of their guard duty, but Eight was content to sit with Three as the sun dips over the horizon until he did.


	5. Moving forward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eight has a majority of her memories back, though the memories while she was hypnotized are still hazy. But there's one person who she now knows she had a relationship with before, and she plans to confront them about not coming forward about this sooner.

Eight woke up to the light of the sun shining on her face. She squints and pulls the blanket over her to block it out, but it proves pointless as her alarm starts blaring shortly after. She groans loudly and rolls over, slamming her palm firmly against the top of it to silence it. She sighs and pulls the covers off of herself, sitting up and stretching her arms as she lets out a quiet yawn. She looks at her clock and sees what time it is, 7:14am. Why had she set her alarm so early? Usually she’s not up until much closer to 10… and then the memories from the previous day came back to her.

“Oh right… that’s why it’s so early.” Eight stands and slides her feet into her slippers so the cold floor doesn’t attack her. Pearl had insisted on purchasing her these expensive silk pajamas which… okay Eight conceded, she loved these things. They were so comfortable it felt like she was being hugged by a cloud.

Eight shook her head to focus her mind, she had to talk to Marina today. There were three possible reasons why she hadn’t mentioned the fact that they were  _ SISTERS _ , and really, only one of them concerned her. But she highly doubted the one she was concerned about was the case, after all, she’s been so caring and welcoming since Kamabo.

Eight steps into her bathroom, flicking on the light and looking herself over in the mirror. She feels kinda cute with her tentacles down, it makes them longer in the back than the front. She examines her face for any thing like dried drool which she is relieved to see none of. She then snags her toothbrush and makes quick work of cleaning her mouth. She doesn’t want to have bad breath for this very important conversation she’s going to have with Marina. Once her mouth is rinsed out she grabs a hair tie off the counter and pushes her tentacles up, wrapping the tie around it to re-form the ponytail out the back of her head.

Proud of her handiwork she smiles at herself in the mirror before turning to exit the bathroom, switching the light off behind her. She walks back over to her bed, snags her phone off of its charger, and slides it into the pocket of her pajama pants. She then takes a moment to straighten her sheets and blanket so they’re tidy. Finally, once her morning routine is done, she turns to leave her room. She knew Marina was going to be one of two places, either the studio or the kitchen. She figures she’ll check both since the kitchen is on the way to the studio.

She made her way down the stairs and as she passed by the kitchen she heard the sound of someone walking around and opening cupboards. She makes her way through the gap in the wall that leads from the hallway to the kitchen and sees Marina, she seems to be in the midst of throwing together a selection of foods, likely preparing meals for the next few days so she doesn’t have to be in the kitchen every day. She has her headphones on and is idly dancing to the beat as she mixes ingredients together.

Eight enters and gives Marina a smile and a wave, prompting her to do the same in return. Eight motions for Marina to take her headphones off to which she nods and obliges.

“What’s going on Eight? You look a little distressed.” Marina comments, setting her headphones on the counter.

“Yeah… c-can we talk talk? Like sit down and have a one on one thing?” Eight gestures towards the kitchen table, signifying to Marina that there was something serious going on in EIght’s mind.

“Of course we can. Go sit, I’ll be there in a moment.” Marina smiles and takes her apron off, setting it by the sink as Eight goes to the table and takes her seat. Marina washes off her hands and dries them on a nearby towel before finally making her way over to the table and taking her seat near where Eight is situated. “What’s on your mind Eight?”

Eight pauses, she thought she was ready for this. She was sure she was ready for this. She wasn’t ready for this in the slightest. She hadn’t even thought of what she was going to say or how she was going to say it. She just wanted to know something simple but she didn’t know how to ask it without making things weird. Oh no her mouth is opening she’s gonna speak as the words form in her brain.

“D-Did you know who I was when I was in Kamabo?” She blurts out, her hearts beating far too fast and she swallows loudly after realizing how blunt her question is. 

Marina’s smile falters, she suddenly looks incredibly worried. But then she starts studying Eight’s face much closer than she ever had, and little things started falling into place, things she thought were just coincidence now all coming together, too many to be coincidence. The way Eight’s nose comes to a soft rounded point, her eyes so brilliantly purple, and the short tentacles flanking her face all coming together in Marina’s mind. Marina’s cup slips from her hands and smashes against the floor, she can feel tears pricking the edges of her eyes as she leans towards Eight.   
  
“K-Kiaria? I-I thought I was s-seeing things…” Marina leans in and grabs Eight, pulling her into a tight hug, which Eight returns quickly. 

“Yes, it’s me… Why didn’t you recognize me sooner?” Eight squeezes the hug tighter, hiding her face in Marina’s shoulder as she feels the tears welling in her own eyes. Her memories slowly making her realize just how close she and Marina had been.

“I- It had been… so many years since I saw you… I thought it was just wishful thinking every time I saw my sister in your face, and with your memories gone I-” Marina chokes back a sob, she has so many emotions right now and the biggest is happiness to have her sister back, followed by regret for not realizing the truth sooner.

Eight simply holds Marina as Marina does the same for Eight, the two finally able to show that they’re there for each other, just like they had been in the domes. Just like they had been right up until Marina left to be free while Kiaria stayed behind to fight a rebellion.

“I… I should’ve never left you alone… I should’ve stayed and fought by your side like you wanted to… I was just so afraid of losing the freedom I had, so I ran… and you got hurt because of it. I’m sorry Kiaria, I am so, so sorry.” Marina grips tightly to Eight, never wanting to let go, never wanting to have to leave her again.   
  


“No, don’t you apologize. We both did what we thought was right.” Eight sobs gently, her mind finding tiny pieces of her relationship with Marina before the hypnotization broke. “Besides… you still helped me, and look at us now, we’re together and alive on the surface!”

Marina chuckles and pulls away from the hug, wiping the tears from her eyes as Eight does the same. Happy to finally have the closure she desired after finding the truth about her past. Marina smiles, wiping her face again to free it of any tears that she may have missed earlier.

Eight smiles back and does the same, happy to have so many people in her life she can turn to when she needs, and finally understanding the warm familiarity Marina and her seemed to always have since they met just after she escaped the Metro. 

“That was always your dream wasn’t it? You stayed and fought because you wanted us to be safe, you couldn’t just leave for fear he’d come back and try and take us back.” Marina says, grabbing a broom to clean up the mess she made with her shattered cup moments ago.

“Yeah… I mean he never came after you at least, so I feel like staying did something, even if it did end up with me being in the Metro.” Eight laughs, then the laughter quickly stops and she stares into the distance.

“Eig- I mean… Kiaria? Are you alright?” Marina turns to look at her, seeing her staring into the distance and becoming lost in thought making her worry. 

Eight began to shake, tears welled in her eyes, and she suddenly fell to her knees. She placed her hand over her mouth and she quickly finds herself trembling. Her memories would come in flashes and this was one of the most intense flashes she’d had since she had her talk with Octavio.

Images flashed in her mind, friends she’d made and watched explode into ink with no respawn pad to speak of. The number of times she herself was kept from battle just so a wound could be tended to, only to find more of her comrades had perished. So many faces she sees in her mind and knowing that likely none of them she’ll ever see again. 

“Kia?!” Marina rushes over and quickly pulls Eight into a hug, holding her close and stroking her head. “What’s wrong? Speak to me.”

“S-So many… gone… how many more were lost because I wasn’t there?” Tears begin rolling down Eights cheeks, so many memories she now wishes she didn’t have now flooding her mind.

“Hey, listen to me, it isn’t your fault okay? Stop blaming yourself, please, you are the most kind and amazing Octoling ever.” Marina says as she hugs Eight tighter, again stroking her head to comfort her. 

Eight hadn’t expected this outcome from talking with Marina. She wasn’t sure if it was the result of her memories coming back over time or if talking with Marina had somehow triggered them, but either way, Eight felt like she needed to clear her head, she needed to get out of the house for a while to make sense of what’s going on in her mind.

She made sure Marina knew she was heading out but said she didn’t know when she’d be back. She figured if she didn’t feel right in her head by sundown she could snag a hotel room or even crash with Three if she’d let her. Oh Agent 3, there’s a lot of memories regarding the agent that were crashing her mind. She remembers how merciless she seemed back before her hypnotization broke, how she tore through Octo Valley like it was a hobby… but then something else stuck out to her in her mind.

The first time Eight and Three had actually fought, the final stand of the Octoling military before Three would go on to face the Octobot King. Agent 3 was making her usual run through, Octolings were being sent back to their spawn points in such numbers that they were forbidden from returning to the fight lest all the power get used just keeping them alive. Eight remembers hearing the sound of the spawnpoint fizzling out, Agent 3 had just nabbed the Zapfish from the stage meaning that this could very well be it.

Eight had been hurt in the battle but managed to escape to the side before being splatted, but there was a gash on her side that was leaking ink, she’d be fine given enough time but she feared what might happen should Agent 3 spot her, and well, you know what they say about speaking of the devil.

But rather than turn her weapon on the downed Octoling, Agent 3 did something unexpected. After kicking Eight’s weapon aside, she knelt down next to her, and tore off a piece of her clothing, wrapping it around the wound and smiling at her.

“You may not understand me, but, no one deserves to die like this, or at all. Regain your strength and maybe we’ll see each other again.” Three smiles before turning and heading out of the stage, ready to face Octavio. 

Eight finds herself thinking more about what happened that lead her to where she is now, more of her memories returning from when she was Hypnotized. Marina and her had worked together designing the route they would corral Agent 3 to following, each OctoWeapon strategically placed to be the last line of defence for each area… and how she’d torn through them like paper.

Eight found herself sitting on a bench in Inkopolis park, watching the world go on around her. There were so many Inklings and Octolings just living their lives now, happiness and joy could be heard as children played in the field nearby. Eight smiled to herself, maybe it had been worth it after all. All these Octolings she could see were happy and safe, they didn’t have to worry about Octavio anymore. Eight found herself looking towards the horizon as the sun rises high and reflects off the lake, something about this place made her feel warmth inside of her, though she couldn’t quite figure out why.

Eight figures it must be the happiness of those around her, occasionally Octolings would give her a glance and then smile and wave, she was sure some of them looked familiar to her. Maybe they were friends she’d made in the rebellion, maybe they were fellow soldiers in Octavio’s army, either way, they were free and on the surface now. Eight sighed and let her body relax, maybe she didn’t have to stress so much any more? Maybe she could stop looking to the past, and instead focus on the future. The future she’d get to spend with those around her that she cares about, and that care about her. Eight smiles and thinks, maybe things will start looking up from here on out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it for this arc! I'm going on a bit of a Hiatus now as I need some time to write up more story as well as get the whole "Holidays" thing out of the way. I expect to be back mid-january 2020, until then, Stay Fresh!


End file.
